hom•i•nid: noun Zoology a primate of a family ( Hominidae) that includes humans and their fossil ancestors. ORIGIN late 19th cent.: from modern Latin Hominidae (plural), from Latin homo, homin- ‘man.’

The Hominid -- “Lucy”

Australopithecus

Australopithecus

Appeared in east Africa about four million to one million years ago

Australopithecus

Walked upright on two legs; well-developed hands

Australopithecus

Stone tools; fire later

Homo Erectus

It is widely accepted that population similar to Homo erectus was directly ancestral to the earliest members of living species Homo sapiens. The exact timing and mode of transformation are still controversial.

Homo Erectus

Homo erectus appears to have evolved in Africa about 1.8 million years ago. Migrations first to Asia and then to Europe. The species became extinct sometimes less than .5 million years ago. This timing places Homo erectus between homo habilis and the earliest appearance of Homo sapiens. The time of migration out of Africa is unknown. Most scholars agreed migration occured about 1 million years ago but there is continue debate over how much earlier than this had begun.

Homo Erectus

Recently a Homo erectus lower jaw has been found in Georgia and said to be 1.6 million years ago. A number of important firsts were recorded during the Homo erectus’ existence.

Homo Erectus

*the first appearance of hominids outside of Africa

Homo Erectus

*the first appearance of systematic hunting.

Homo Erectus

*tool making and use of fire* tool making and use of fire

Homo Erectus

*first indication of extended childhood.

Homo Erectus

*homo erectus was capable of a more complex life.

Homo Erectus

*Body size also increased. Reaching close to 1.8 meters in male and 1.55 meters in females.

Homo Erectus

*the cranium is long and low and somewhat flattened at the front and back

Homo Erectus

*the cranial bone being thicker than in earlier hominids

Homo Erectus

*the face is short but wide and the nasal aperture projected forward, suggesting the first appearance of the typical human external nose with the nostril facing downward.

Homo Erectus

*pronounced brow ridges are present above the orbits.

Homo Erectus

*the postcranial skeleton is similar to that of modern man but its robust and was clearly heavily muscled.

Pa•le•o•lith•ic | adjective Archaeology of, relating to, or denoting the early phase of the Stone Age, lasting about 2.5 million years, when primitive stone implements were used. • [as n. ] ( the Paleolithic) the Paleolithic period. Also called OLD STONE AGE . The Paleolithic period extends from the first appearance of artifacts to the end of the last ice age (about 8,500 years ago). The period has been divided into the Lower Paleolithic, with the earliest forms of humankind and the emergence of hand-ax industries (ending about 120,000 years ago), the Middle Paleolithic, the era of Neanderthal humans (ending about 35,000 years ago), and the Upper Paleolithic, during which only modern Homo sapiens is known to have existed. ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from PALEO- [of prehistoric times] + Greek lithos ‘stone’ + -IC.

Paleolithic Society

Economic and society of hunting and gathering peoples

Paleolithic Society: Economic life

prevented individuals from accumulating private property

Paleolithic Society: Economic life

lived in an egalitarian existence

Paleolithic Society: Economic life

lived in small bands, about thirty to fifty members in each group

Paleolithic Society: Economic life

Big game hunting with special tools and tactics

Paleolithic Society: Economic life

Some permanent Paleolithic settlements, if area rich in resources

Natufians in eastern Mediterranean

Paleolithic Society: Economic life

Some permanent Paleolithic settlements, if area rich in resources

Jomon in central Japan

Paleolithic Society: Economic life

Some permanent Paleolithic settlements, if area rich in resources

Chinook in Pacific northwest area of North America

Paleolithic Society: Economic life

Natufians in eastern Mediterranean

Collected wild wheat and took animals from abundant antelope herds.

Paleolithic Society: Economic life

Natufians in eastern Mediterranean

Natufians burials, often place in close proximity to the homes of the living, contain elaborate jewelry made of bone, shell, and shone. These materials, readily available in the Mediterranean landscape, were fashioned by skilled artists and marked the social standing of the Natufians’ buried ancestors. At Eynan/Ain Mallaha, for example, an exquisite headdress made from hundreds of delicate, tusk-skaped dentalium shells was found in a woman’s burial.

Paleolithic Society: Economic life

Jomon in central Japan (Hunter Gathers of Japan)

Harvested wild buckwheat and developed a productive fishing economy.

Paleolithic Society: Economic life

Chinook in Pacific northwest of North America

Chinook society emerged after 3000 B.C.E. until mid-nineteenth century C.E.

Paleolithic Society: Economic life

Chinook in Pacific northwest of North America

Subsisted on wild berries, acorns, and massive salmon runs in local rivers.

Paleolithic Society

Chinook in Pacific northwest of North America

These settlements had permanent dwellings, sometimes in the form of longhouses that accommodated several hundred people, but often in the form of smaller structures for individual families.

Paleolithic Society

Neanderthal peoples

Europe and southwest Asia between one hundred thousand and thirty-five thousand years ago

Paleolithic Society

The creativity of homo sapiens

Constructed powerful and flexible languages

Paleolithic Society

The creativity of homo sapiens

Accumulate and transmit knowledge to new generations

Paleolithic Society

The creativity of homo sapiens

New tools, weapons, and trade networks

Paleolithic Society

Cromagnon

The first human beings of fully modern type; appeared forty thousand years ago

Paleolithic Society

Cromagnon

Venus figurines--fertility

Paleolithic Society

Cromagnon

Cave paintings of animals--sympathetic magic

Paleolithic Society

Cromagnon

The first human beings of fully modern type; appeared forty thousand years ago

Paleolithic Society

Cro-magnon peoples (Homo sapiens sapiens)

Paleolithic Society

Ho•mo sa•pi•ens | the primate species to which modern humans belong; humans regarded as a species. See also HOMO. • a member of this species. ORIGIN Latin, literally ‘wise man.’